A common task in maintaining an engine of a motor vehicle is to fill the engine with oil or other liquids at required intervals. Whether such filling occurs at a service station by the motorist or an attendant, at a garage by a mechanic, or at home or otherwise by the motorist, the method commonly used for many years has remained essentially the same. Oil and other liquids such as transmission fluid are typically sold in quart containers and, at a service station, for example, they are displayed on a rack. A user selects a quart of oil for example, removes both the filler cap and the container cap, and then, in order to dispense the oil, must use some type of funnel.
Previously, the funnel was a tubular extension with a sharp end that penetrated a metal oil can. More recently, with the advent of plastic oil containers, it has been necessary to use a separate funnel. The first case usually required the service attendant to add the oil. In the second case, the motorist usually performs the task if a funnel is readily available.
A funnel is of course necessary because of the inaccessibility of the filler opening in the engine of a motor vehicle. The filler cap is usually surrounded by other engine parts which preclude bringing the spout of an open oil container into direct contact and alignment with the filler cap before the container is inverted. If no funnel is available to a user either at the service station or at home, and the engine requires oil, either the filling task is delayed, to the detriment of the engine, or else much oil is spilled and wasted in an effort to pour some oil into the engine.
Containers with pull tops have been proposed to obviate the need for a funnel, but the known container pull-tops have not been commercially adopted, at least they are not generally seen on the market, perhaps for a variety of reasons. One reason may be that the known pull-tops have been incorporated into the common oil container in such a manner as to require two hands to use, an unnecessary complexity as compared with the present invention. For example, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,869,383 to Bahr, et al.; 4,872,571 to Crecelius et al.; 5,121,845 to Blanchard; and 5,156,286 to Piccard each disclose pull-top closures for oil containers of the type discussed in which two hands are required to dispense the oil.
The desirability of using only one hand to dispense liquid from a container having a pull-top closure exists in other applications than just filling an automobile engine with oil and other liquids. Particularly for those with physical disabilities, it may be an advantage to be able to grasp a container with only one hand and, with a finger of that same hand, be able to pull the closure from the opening of the container.